Simracing saves the day

[Sarsippius]

I just had some woman completely cut in front of me on the way to work this morning and I'm pretty sure if it wasn't for my simracing experience it would have been an accident. I was in the left of three lanes with her in the middle lane in an 80 zone, I was possibly in her blind spot with my front end partly alongside her rear. I don't know if she indicated or anything but suddenly she was moving across right into me, instinctively I stabbed the brakes, locking up briefly but slowing down enough to miss her. I of course hit the horn to show my displeasure and at the lights ahead where we stopped she seemed contrite, turning back to me and putting her hand up but I ghosted her, just taking deep breaths and letting the adrenaline subside.

I think I wouldn't have been too bad but if we'd made contact she would have been spun around and up onto the inside kerb, it could have been quite nasty.

[Cursed]

Really need to pay attention to that spotter on the radio

[w00dsy]

Sarsippius voted to restart

[Dr. Pain]

You need to install helicorsa.

[Duke]

CrewChief FTW...

But good to hear you avoided it & the pain of getting your car fixed.

[Jiminee]

Protest! Hope you saved the video.

[Sarsippius]

If I was in my 86 I would have had a video to share but I was in the work car, a single cab Hilux Work Mate which didn't do anything funny when I hit the brakes

[ysu]

I had a similar moment on the freeway the other day. Sudden slowdown from 120-ish to 50 or so on both inner lanes (the left lane was empty of course, that's how you drive in Aus) smoke from tires ahead and the side...guys behind too close to slow down safely. Luckily I had plenty of braking power to spare, the brakes & tyres on the x5 are awesome so I could maneuver without being quite on the limit.

I had to slow down, keep a distance, while moving slightly to the left (checking the mirror constantly) so the guy behind me had enough space as he was sliding somewhat to the right in his minivan.

Accident avoided but I just don't know how...

[KNAPPO]

Gotta love sim raicng induced cat like reflexes.

This reminds me of an incident I had in a Ford KB Laser Hatch in the 90's when I first started driving. Stupid me was in a lane intended for going ahead and I needed to get into the dual right turn lanes, peak hour and most people try and jump the que into the right turn lanes and slot into a gap.

I found said gap but mis judged the speed of the cars in the turn lanes. Merged from 80 into the right lane which were doing about 50 and pulling up. Realised it mid merge and hit the brakes a fraction too hard, initial braking was ok but as I was merging I locked up on the white paint as I crossed it and had to get off the pedal to retain wheel rotation and managed to pull up with the front number plate mere inches from a tow bar, I swear that I made contact but didnt... Small amount of smoke then over took me and I realised that if I had stayed on the brakes I would have hit the car in-front.

[durbster]

I had a Peugeot 306 which, like most French hatches, you could just chuck about with abandon and it would be fine.

I swapped it for an MX-5, and on the first evening of driving it I went round a roundabout just as I had been doing every day in the 306, flicked the car left to exit and watched the popup headlights continue to turn after I'd asked them not to.

I caught the slide instinctively, and then giggled like a little girl for the rest of the journey. I've absolutely no doubt it was sim-racing that allowed me to do that, and actually enjoy it.

I hadn't realised quite how old and cheap the tyres were, and every time it was slightly damp the back end was very lively. It wasn't frightening though, I absolutely loved it

My wife's stalker put a knife through all those tyres not long after, so I had to put some sensible ones on it and I was a little disappointed about that.

[Sarsippius]

There's no doubt sim racing helps with your reaction times and knowing how to react in certain situations. The first time I took my 86 to Hidden Valley I braked too late for T1 which is a heavy braking zone. I knew exactly what to do, keeping the car straight, going deep and wide into the corner to scrub off the speed before turning in.

The funny thing for me about doing a track day after so much sim racing was it wasn't really "fun", as soon as I was out on track it was like putting the game face on, I was straight into the zone, focused and all business.

[GT VIRUS]

Last time I took the kart racing, I ended up with a stuck throttle and got fired straight into a wall. Sim racing can't help with those issues!!

[durbster]

Last time I took the kart racing, I ended up with a stuck throttle and got fired straight into a wall. Sim racing can't help with those issues!!

But at least you would know what to expect: half your car would be embedded inside the wall for a few seconds, there would be a little shudder and then you'd be fired into the stratosphere, rotating eight hundred times per second before you suddenly found yourself static, upright and in the pits.

[w00dsy]

Last time I took the kart racing, I ended up with a stuck throttle and got fired straight into a wall. Sim racing can't help with those issues!!

But at least you would know what to expect: half your car would be embedded inside the wall for a few seconds, there would be a little shudder and then you'd be fired into the stratosphere, rotating eight hundred times per second before you suddenly found yourself static, upright and in the pits.

Good old GPL physics